Snap fastener



Dec. 8, 1970 o. J. DADDONA, JR.. ET

SNAP FASTENER Filed Dec. 16, 1968 INVENTORS Domen 1c JDaddona Ir.

n4 BY ennethWFhsher. v

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,545,048 SNAP FASTENER Domenic John Daddona, Jr., Waterbury, and Kenneth William Flisher, Middlebury, Conn., assignors to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 784,006

Int. Cl. A44b 17/00 US. Cl. 24-213 4 Claims ABSTRACTiOF THE DISCLOSURE A snap fastener of very economical construction comprises two like parts each of a single thickness of sheet material having a rectangular portion cut through along opposite side margins and shaped upwardly into an arching bridge, bridging between the two other side margins to thereby present an upwardly facing head and a downwardly facing socket for snap engagement with the socket or head respectively of the other part.

This invention relates to separable snap fasteners ca pable of very economical manufacture. They are useful on throw-away articles such as disposable garments.

The fastener comprises two like parts each of which is a single thickness of sheet material such as plastic having a rectangular portion out along opposite margins and formed into an arching bridge to thereby present an upwardly facing head on the top side of the sheet and a downwardly facing socket on the bottom side of the sheet. The head snaps into a socket on a similar part. The head, being rectangular, engages along the side edges of the socket opening so that the fastener is well adapted,

to resist lateral stress when a pair of the parts are interengaged in overlapping relation.

The parts may be made 'by simple shearing and forming tools from a continuous thin strip as may be supplied in rolls.

Additional advantages and objectives of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear. In the accompanying drawings, we have shown for purposes of illustration, one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a closure of a garment or the like, equipped with the improved snap fasteners;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pair of parts comprising a snap fastener embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a part;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross section of line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross section of line 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view on an enlarged scale indicating how a pair of the parts may be snapped together; and

FIG. 8 shows portions of the forming tools poised to commence shaping a part.

In FIG. 1 there is indicated a portion of a garment or the like having an inner flap 10 and an outer flap 11. A series of fastener parts each generally designated 12 are secured to the outer face of the inner flap and like fastener parts 13 are secured to the outer flap in alignment with the parts 12 and in such a way that they project away from the edge 14 of the flap 11. The parts may be attached to the flaps by heat sealing 16.

Each fastener part comprises a single thickness substantialy planar sheet 15 (FIG. 3). It may have any desired shape, that shown here being approximately square, so that it can conveniently be cut from a continuous sheet or strip. A rectangular portion 17 which is preferably located toward the front side 18 of the sheet is sheared along opposite margins 19 and 20 and formed upwardly (FIG. 4) to provide an arching bridge 21 bridging between the other two margins of the portion. The bridge 21 which rises up from the plane of the sheet (FIGS. 3, 4) presents in terms of the snap fastener product an upwardly facing head. The recess created in the underside of the sheet presents a downwardly facing socket having an opening 22. The head 21 of this part may be received in mating engagement into the socket of a second like part, or the socket of this part may receive in mating engagement the head of a second like part.

In the preferred embodiment, a central section of the bridge extends slightly laterally in both directions to be very slightlywider than the distance between the two opposite margins 19 and 20 and the edges produced upon the shearing thereof. This large dimension which may be effected as described below, coupled with the resilience gives the snap fastener a very desirable snap action as the central portion of the head passes through the socket opening 22.

In actual practice, the rectangular portion is sheared along the side margins 19 and 20. The portion is then reformed by suitable means such as indicated in FIG. 8. This figure shows a die 23 has a trough-shaped recess and a punch 24 with a transverse rib 25. When the tools are brought together on the portion, there is formed the arching bridge 21 with the transverse rib 26. The tools are so designed so that the material in the central portion of the bridge including the rib portion 26 will be squeezed to produce laterally projecting edge portions 27 and 28 as best seen in FIG. 7. The height of the rib 26 as well as the extent of the projections 27 and 28 are somewhat exaggerated in the drawings and it will be understood that only a small increase in width is required in the central portion of the bridge for snap engagement with the opposite sides of the aperture 22 in a mating part.

When a pair of the parts 15 are engaged in the manner shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, they will be in overlapping and in substantial contiguous relation. Any lateral pull on the fastener is strongly resisted by the engagement between a lateral edge of the rectangular bridge 21 and an edge of the opening 22. It will also be observed in FIG. 5 that the bridge 21 of the female or upper part, while not actively engaged in the fastening function, overlies and prevents accidental unfastening pressure being applied to the bridge or head 21 of the male part.

While the stock of which the snap fastener is made may be selected from a wide range of plastics and other resilient material, one plastic has been found especially suitable. This is an ABS resin commercially available from Borg Warner Corporation. The susceptibility of this material to being cold formed makes it especially desirable. It should be understood that if desired or necessary, the parts of a snap fastener embodying the invention may be of dilferent material; that is, one part may be of more rigid material than the other, though the full benefit of the invention stems from the economy of having all parts the same. It should further be understood that the parts of the snap fastener may have secured to them or even integrally formed adjacent them various means, for instance, for attaching the parts to a garment or other article on which the part is used. Here, again, the invention encompasses this variation so that part as used herein may be an area of a larger whole. The best economic advantage is achieved in the simple version shown.

The invention may be described by the following claim language:

We claim:

1. One part of a two-part snap fastener, the parts being of substantially identical shape, said one part comprising a sheet of plastic or the like having a rectangular portion cut through along two opposite side margins and the two otherside margins to thereby present an upward- 1y facing head and a downwardly facing socket, a central section of said bridge extending slightly laterally in both directions to be wider than the distance between the said two opposite margins, said head thus adapted for snap engagement into such socket of such other part, and said socket thus adapted for snap engagement reception of such head of such other part.

2. A part as defined in claim 1, wherein said central section of the bridge has an upward protruding transverse rib which projects laterally as described.

3. A part as defined in claim 1 which is made of plastic material capable of being cold formed from a flat thin strip to produce the shape defined.

4. A two-part snap fastener, the parts being of substantially identical shape, each part comprising a sheet of plastic or the like having a rectangular portion cut through along two opposite side margins and shaped upwardly into an arching bridge bridging between the two other side margins to thereby present an upwardly facing head and a downwardly facing socket, a central section of said bridge extending slightly laterally in both directions to be wider than the distance between the said two opposite margins, the head of one part engaging in the socket of the other part in snap engagement.

References Cited UNITED STATES, PATENTS STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 24-216 

